MADISON TWP. Morgan monument's future is uncertain

The state is trying to determine who owns the land where the monument rests.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
WEST POINT -- The fate of a Civil War monument continues to hang in limbo while the state makes preparations to close the roadside rest in which the monument sits.
Arrangements have yet to be made regarding the future of a massive stone marker commemorating the July 1863 incursion and capture of Confederate raider Gen. John Hunt Morgan, said Becky McCarty, a state department of transportation spokeswoman.
The monument stands in a remote state-maintained roadside rest along state Route 518 in Madison Township.
It originally was erected in 1910 on a spot nearby and later moved to its current location.
The area is where Morgan and about 364 of his men surrendered to federal cavalry and local militia after a four-state, 24-day raid.
His capture represents the farthest north any confederate force reached during the Civil War.
A restroom building at the roadside rest was closed in 1998 by the state after the spot became notorious as a place for homosexuals to engage in illicit sex.
Plans to close site
The state has continued to maintain the surrounding grounds, which include the monument and a parking lot. But it now wants to close the site, which would mean razing the restroom building and tearing out the parking lot.
The state also wants to end its easement to use the privately owned land.
The planned closure is part of a statewide effort to shutter small, remote roadside rests as a cost-saving measure.
State officials are involved in a title search to identify the property's owner and ask that person or entity if it wants to leave the Morgan marker where it is, McCarty said.
The state also is trying to find someone willing to maintain the marker and the grounds around it.
So far, those talks have yet to progress very far because the state first wants to identify the landowner, McCarty said.
If the property owner doesn't want the marker to remain where it is, the state will try to find a suitable place for it, she added.
leigh@vindy.com